Welcome to my newsletter; a round-up of February events and how I've been working on your behalf in Bristol East and Westminster.
War in Europe – We Stand with Ukraine
Putin has unleashed a tyrannical assault on freedom and self-determination with his invasion of Ukraine. I joined Labour colleagues in calling for the hardest possible sanctions designed to cripple Russia's financial influence abroad, as well as immediate military and humanitarian assistance. This includes blocking dealing in Russian sovereign debt but also something which we’ve been pushing for years - a ‘register of beneficial ownership’ to counter Russian influence in our political system. The courage shown by President Zelensky and his people has been remarkable, but they need more international support as the military onslaught on their towns and cities continues.
I appeared on ITV West last week where I was able to express my solidarity with Ukrainians and make the case for comprehensive economic measures. You can watch here.
As I outlined in my initial statement to the Bristol Post on the morning of the first attack - ‘I know many of those in Bristol with friends and relatives in Ukraine will be waking up this morning fearful. Fearful for those they know, and for the future of Europe. I’d like you to know you are not alone. Putin must understand that he is not unaccountable. His aggression will not be without repercussion. And most importantly, he will not prevail. Bristol stands with Ukraine.’
With reports of indiscriminate bombing attacks on civilian areas, attention will soon be turning to the safety of those who have had to flee their homes. The Government must establish a simple sanctuary route for refugees, which includes an inclusive visa-waiver scheme. In doing so the Home Office needs to learn the lesson from the Afghan refugee crisis last summer, by prioritising an efficient and welcoming approach. This website lists some of the ways that you can help. In the meantime, I’ve been keeping constituents up to date on my Facebook page - here.
50% of mental health problems are established by age 14, so early intervention really makes a difference to children’s life chances and wellbeing, and ultimately, saving lives. Over the course of the week, I heard terrible accounts of children in severe mental distress who hadn’t had the support they needed or had suffered delays to treatment. These are symptoms of a larger nationwide problem which has worsened over the past decade due to the Government’s underfunding of NHS services and social care.
Shocking failures in Supported Housing system finally getting the attention it deserves
For some years now I have been campaigning on the issue of supported housing, and how some unscrupulous operators have exploited vulnerable individuals for financial gain. By providing only ‘minimal support’ landlords can get round the cap on housing benefit and receive much higher rents, at the taxpayers’ expense. I introduced a Private Members Bill in the last Parliament as a way of raising concerns about Wick House in Brislington, where residents were clearly not getting proper support. In Wick House, things have improved but wider issues in supported housing remain, particularly in Birmingham and in coastal areas where landlords have bought up old B&Bs.
I joined Birmingham MPs in speaking in a Westminster Hall debate on this topic, where we called for regulation of supported housing providers. After I introduced my Bill the Government funded a number of pilots, including one in Bristol, to assess supported housing provision. Those pilots have ended, but we are yet to hear from the Government whether action will be taken. Worryingly, the Minister seemed to be suggesting that the pilots would simply allow the Government to identify “best practice”, which landlords could follow. I am highly sceptical that this would have any impact on rogue landlords who have no interest in providing support and are simply in it for the money.
Labour then called an Opposition Day on the same topic. I spoke during this debate to say that all supported housing should be commissioned, so private providers aren’t just able to set up supported housing projects in places they choose where housing costs are cheap and not meet basic standards.
At Prime Minister’s Questions I had the opportunity to press the Prime Minister on the cost of living and the skewed priorities of his Cabinet Ministers. During the worst cost of living crisis in a generation, his out of touch Cabinet is reportedly rebelling over a ban on fur and foie gras imports. I asked the Prime Minister how he thinks this looks when so many families are struggling to afford the essentials?
Given one of the Cabinet Ministers opposing the foie gras import ban was Jacob Rees-Mogg, I also asked him directly to confirm whether the £2bn spent on food procurement by the Government every year would be used to purchase healthy and sustainable food, rather than the cruel imports that he apparently favours.
Challenging prescription charges for Cystic Fibrosis patients
People with cystic fibrosis still have to pay for NHS prescriptions, despite needing many different meds, because the Government refuses to review the medical exemption list which it drew up in 1968 when few people with CF survived much beyond childhood. My niece Maisie lives with Cystic Fibrosis and has benefited immensely from recent medical advances, but it pains me to think that adults with her condition face financial pressure to cover their own prescription costs.
I was recently contacted by a constituent who pays for his adult son’s prescriptions, so I was glad to have the opportunity to discuss his situation in Parliament. It’s grossly unfair that people with other lifelong conditions are exempt from paying, but those with cystic fibrosis aren’t. It’s frustrating that there’s been so little progress in this area over so many decades, and in light of the cost-of-living crisis, I’ve called upon the Government to rethink its approach. You can read my full speech here.
Climate Change
I called out the Government on its plans to approve six new polluting oil and gas fields in the North Sea, ignoring the climate emergency and the need to set a global example in the shift away from fossil fuels. Energy bills are rising, but that is because of our reliance on expensive fossil fuels. Renewable energy like solar and wind is cheaper than ever and should be our priority moving forward.
I also hosted a meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Small Island Developing States – which I Chair, where we heard from the President of COP26, Alok Sharma MP, about the progress made at the summit for climate-vulnerable nations and the areas where we still need to go further.
PCSC Amendments
The Commons sat very late earlier this week to debate and vote on amendments backed by the Lords to remove some of the worst provisions from the Police, Crime, Courts and Sentencing Bill. This Bill would severely limit our democratic rights and I’ve voted against it at every opportunity. Now, Tory MPs voted to reject amendments to strip provisions that would give the police the power to place restrictions on protests because of noise levels, or to restrict public assemblies and one-person protests. It’s worth re-stating the Police haven’t asked for these powers.
The Bill will now go back to the House of Lords as part of the ping-pong stage until both Chambers have approved the same version of the Bill, so I hope the Lords will stand firm on this.
Fuel Poverty
Although Ukraine has knocked this off the front pages, the biggest issue facing most people in Bristol East and across the UK is the cost-of-living crisis. Yet, not only has the Government failed to ease the burden faced by those hit by rising inflation and unaffordable bills, it has accelerated the crisis with a series of measures which undermine people’s finances amid a period of wage stagnation, for example, the cut to Universal Credit and April’s hike in National Insurance.
I spoke in Parliament at the start of the month, supporting Labour’s motion for a Windfall Tax on North Shore Oil & Gas companies. Shell recorded profits of £4.7billion in the last quarter alone, so I asked the question: Why is it that this Government has more sympathy with these producers than with the British people struggling with rising energy bills?
Instead, the Chancellor's has concocted a ‘buy now, pay later’ scheme, saddling people with an enforced loan. A YouGov poll commissioned a fortnight ago found 57% of those responsible for paying the fuel bill would decline the £200 cash if given the choice. This is not the solution, and I’ve written to the Chancellor on behalf of those who’ve been in touch to make this clear.
Covid-19: Speaking up for the Shielding
The Government announced it would remove all measures that protect against the spread of Covid-19 in England: from withdrawing the requirement for those who test positive to self-isolate, to ending free mass Covid testing (from 1st April) to all but a select few vulnerable groups.
These new policies have been widely condemned, and it’s now clear that this isn’t the scientifically informed strategy for ‘living with Covid’ that’s needed to fuel our recovery from the pandemic. People will find it harder to act responsibly now that the Government is removing the tools enabling them to do so. Trade unions have been quick to point out that stopping self-isolation payments will mean that many people can’t afford to stay home on sick pay and will bring Covid to work.
We all know that the Prime Minister’s decision to abandon his public health responsibilities doesn’t mean the pandemic is over. The 500,000+ immunocompromised people in the UK will be hit hardest, many of whom have spent the last two years shielding at home. I’ve written to the Health Secretary, to demand a ‘Strategy for Living with Covid-19’ that protects the health of my clinically vulnerable constituents in Bristol East, and not just the Prime Minister’s job.
Animal Welfare
I continued to push the Government to do more to strengthen animal welfare. That includes serving on the Animal Sentience Bill Committee, where – although I support the Bill – I attempted to strengthen it further by proposing and supporting several amendments which would have provided clarity on key areas of the Bill and forced the Government to put forward a strategy for ensuring animal sentience is recognised and respected.
I also spoke in a debate about the Government’s decision to approve the use of bee-killing pesticides, overruling expert advice in the process. Biodiversity levels are continuing to plummet, and pollinating insects will be key to recovering our natural world. I therefore made it clear to the Minister that this decision was unscientific and unacceptable.
With actor and animal welfare campaigner Peter Egan, calling on the Government to ban trophy hunting now.
Power, Corruption, and more positive news
After all the build-up and anticipation, Sue Gray was only able to release a seven-page long ‘interim report’ into Number 10’s illegal Covid parties, whilst the Metropolitan Police investigates to see if it will bring criminal charges. I have already called on the Prime Minister to resign, relaying my constituents’ anger that those in charge were having jolly after boozy jolly whilst they were doing the right thing and following the rules, often at great personal cost. You would hope that if charges are brought against the PM or anyone working at his instruction then even Tory MPs could no longer defend the indefensible and would trigger a leadership election. We’ll wait and see…
Speaking of elections, I was also unanimously re-selected by the local Labour Party to re-stand as Labour’s candidate for Bristol East at the next election. I’m delighted to have received such overwhelming support from Labour members and affiliates and being given the chance to continue serving Bristol East’s communities – voters in 2023 or 2024 permitting!
Looking to North Bristol now, it’s great news that Cllr Kye Dudd was elected in the Southmead by-election. Kye is a firm trade unionist and former councillor, and I’m sure he will be a great representative for the ward. There was also a parliamentary by-election after the sad death of my colleague Jack Dromey, and I went up to Birmingham a couple of times to campaign; I’m very pleased that Paulette Hamilton has been elected and will join me on the Labour benches in the Commons.
Bristol East Casework
In February, I handled 70 new requests for help with individual casework, including difficulties constituents have faced with the following issues:-
Asylum & immigration, Housing, Education, Health, Crime and Policing, Local Council, Tax, Welfare Benefits, Social Services, Driving Licence Applications and Business issues.
These cover a whole range of problems for example,
Anti Social Behaviour, harassment and noise nuisance
Re-housing applications, including someone living in a shipping container
Right to buy, rent arrears and a request for additional washing machine slot.
Crime & Policing ranges from reports of drug dealing, assaults in prison and prison transfers and a report involving damage to a gate.
My achievements with casework this month include:-
Helping a constituent who needed a bedroom for an overnight carer, to get over £5,700 Discretionary Housing Payment in lieu of Bedroom Tax payments which they’d made since 2013.
Helping to get passport application expedited for urgent family travel, Resolving Home Office administrative errors so visas were awarded
Assisting a constituent to get their medication re-instated
Sorting out HGV driving licence applications
Resolving a deputyship application delay problem so constituents can sort out their elderly mum’s affairs.
Helping to sort out an elderly constituent’s rent arrears.
My work continues on a range of other issues too, which you can read about if you follow me on social media, or in future newsletters. As always, please get in touch if you have any comments or questions, or if you need help from me and my team. You can email me at kerry.mccarthy.mp@parliament.uk or call 0117 939 9901.
Best wishes, Kerry McCarthy, Member of Parliament for Bristol East
